News & Events

Feb 11, 2017ALTENBERG, Ger. Maxwell grabs third medal of the season, first on European ice

ALTENBERG, Ger.—Canada’s Carolyn Maxwell surpassed her expectations after sliding to a silver medal at the Youth Luge World Cup in Altenberg, Germany on Saturday.

The 15-year-old locked up the silver medal with a combined time of 1:23.012 after posting the fastest time of the final run on the eight-corner track at 41.555.

“It feels great to be on the podium. It was a great race today,” said the Grade 11 student at Calgary’s National Sport School.

It didn’t take long for Maxwell to get comfortable in her first trip to the Altenberg track – known to many as one of the most intimidating tracks in the world.

“It is a special moment for sure to win a medal in Altenberg. These were the first runs that I have ever had here but I just felt confident all week in training,” added Maxwell. “It is really cool to come here and compete against the kids that learned to slid on this track. I definitely felt some pressure today but the track gave me some of the vibes of Calgary with the straightaways, and its rhythm.”

Maxwell was sandwiched between two Germans on the podium. Jessica Degenhardt defended her home turf by winning the women’s youth race with a time of 1:22.957. Evita Kohne slid to the bronze medal at 1:23.283.

It has been a stellar season for the young Canuck, Maxwell. The promising luge athlete opened the season with back-to-back silver medals on her home track in Calgary. Saturday’s triumph was her first medal on international ice.

“I would like to believe I could put my mind to do this, but coming here I didn’t set my expectation too high,” added Maxwell. “By the end of the training week I did know I was capable of it. I just wanted to put two consistent runs together, and I couldn’t be happier that I was able to do that.”

Other Canadian finishes included: Makena Hodgson in ninth at 1:23.704; and Samantha Judson in 11th at 1:23.858.

The Canadian Luge Association is a not-for-profit organization responsible for governing the sport of luge across the country. With the financial backing of from the Government of Canada, Canadian Olympic Committee and Own the Podium, the Canadian Luge Association safely recruits and develops the nation’s current and future high-performance luge athletes with the goal of regularly climbing onto the international podium. For more information on the Canadian Luge Association, please visit us at www.luge.ca on the Internet.